1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to games, and, more particularly, to games of skill.
2. General Background
Board games provide countless hours of thought-engaging, social entertainment for their players. However, the advent of inexpensive home computing has led to a rise in the popularity of video games. Many versions of board games may lack complexity, strategy and flexibility offered by modern video games, resulting in a preference by substantial numbers of game consumers for video games over board games. Excessive time spent playing video games may cause unwanted behavioral effects in the players.
Furthermore, players of video games often find it easier to identify with the icons or characters of the video game. This is particularly true for younger players, who may be drawn to the video game format. On the other hand, many older players are less likely to play video games. This disparity in game preferences can lead to less time spent together as a family for game playing.
Typical roll-the-die-and-move-your-piece board games are easy to learn and play, but may lack the depth to maintain interest for more than a few plays because they are based too much on random chance and thus do not offer complexity, strategy, or educational opportunities.
Recent trivia style games have become widely available; however, these games are repetitive and do not treat players equally because they focus solely on acquired knowledge. Thus, older players have a distinct advantage over younger players.
Typical strategy games provide greater depth but often feature war and combat themes which do not have the potential to appeal to the entire family and/or to all segments of society.
Thus, there exists a need for a family-oriented strategy board game which provides the social interaction families crave as well as possessing a universal theme and characters that are appealing to the entire family, boys, girls, young and old. This game should be dynamic, educational, as well as provide the intense and complex strategies of electronics which keep players involved in every moment of the game experience—a trait that can attract younger players accustomed to playing video games.